


The Mark on His Skin

by NewTimelineNewMe



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Emotional Abuse, Homophobic Language, Human AU, Hurt Virgil Sanders, I don’t ship any of these so lamp, It’s a soulmate au, Logic | Logan Sanders Has Feelings, M/M, Multi, Panic Attacks, Patton's A+ Parenting, Physical Abuse, Self Harm, Soulmate AU, but here we are bitches, i do have good grammar though, i thought I’d never write one of these, idk man you got an aro person writing love stories so, no beta we die like men, not until later tho, platonic LAMP too, so there’s that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 13,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22396408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewTimelineNewMe/pseuds/NewTimelineNewMe
Summary: Virgil never wanted a soulmate. Honestly, the one thing that he and his parents agreed on was that they would be better off without him. After all, Virgil had been an accidental pregnancy, and his parents never failed to bring that up.But today was his 16th birthday, and deep down Virgil couldn’t wait to see the writing appear on his skin.Soulmate AU: anything you write on your skin appears on your soulmates.If you wanna come scream at me, I’m on tumblr @robinwritesshitposts!
Relationships: LAMP - Relationship, demus - Relationship
Comments: 112
Kudos: 586





	1. Chapter 1

Virgil spent his birthday stiff and rigid, waiting for the peace that came with his time alone. School has been fine. At least the anxiety attack had distracted him from the terror that having another person to disappoint brought. Jeez, he wouldn’t be able to escape his soulmate, would he. It was either they face a loveless life together, or Virgil subjected him to life without a soulmate. Lose-lose either way.

Dinner, however, was an awkward affair that almost made Virgil wish they were drunk or hitting him. At least he would know what to do then, even if what he was doing was hiding bruises and trying not to cry.

“I-I’m going to my room.” Virgil stammered, praying that they wouldn’t object.

His father eyed him critically. “You’re not gonna try and chat with that soulmate of yours, are you? You know you belong to us, no matter how much your soulmate claims to love you.”

“No, sir.”

His mother scoffed. “Look at him. I bet he doesn’t even have one.” She chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Go,” his father commanded, “Get out of sight.”

Virgil complied, pausing only to put his plate in the sink, cringing at the piles of dishes he would inevitably have to do later. He clomped up the stairs to his room and flopped down on his bed. His stomach was rolling with anticipation and dread.

Both too soon and too late, the clock read 11:59. One minute, and he would be able to talk to his soulmate. 

The clock hit 12:00, and...

Nothing happened. 

_Okay, calm down,_ Virgil thought. _Maybe they haven’t written anything yet_?

Or maybe he didn’t have one. 

With his mother’s laughter ringing in his ears, Virgil uncapped a pen and scribbled “Hello?” on his ankle. 

Virgil’s eyes widened as he realized what he just did. He had promised not to talk to his soulmate, and now he just did.

_Stupidstupidworthlesslier_

Virgil tossed his pen on the ground and dived under the covers, blocking out any reply he may have gotten. 

His skin was tingling as he drifted off to sleep.

-

Patton Heart was excited to meet his soulmate. He had had an amazing 16th birthday, and to top it all off, got some expensive pens that were made just for writing on skin. He had been tired from the day, however, and crashed almost as soon as the party was over. At 10:00. His last thought as he drifted off was how much he couldn’t wait to see who he had been paired with.

-

Logan Croft was intrigued by the idea of a soulmate, yes, but that didn’t mean he had to skip his routine just to meet them. Birthdays were frivolous affairs, and although a day of doing whatever you wanted seemed fun in theory, he found in practice it produced little motivation and little productivity. So, after making sure that all his homework was complete for the evening, he went to bed. Surely, his soulmate would understand the importance of routine.

-

Roman Prince, however, could not sleep that night. He was entranced by the idea of a soulmate, and found the whole thing to be very romantic. Roman sat impatiently at his desk, watching the minutes tick by.

11:59...

12:00!

He squealed, in a very manly way, and uncapped the skin pen that his Abuela had gifted him. 

What should he say though?

“Hi” seemed too informal, but “Hello” seemed too formal. He didn’t want to go immediately into poetry, but that was kinda his forte.

While he was contemplating what to say, he felt his ankle tingle. He glanced down, and-

Roman gave another very manly squeal as purple writing appeared out of nowhere.

“Hello?” The handwriting was sloppy in a graceful way, slanting ever so slightly to the right.

“Hello Soulmate!” Roman replied, cringing as soon as he finished.

There was no reply, so Roman added, “I can’t wait to meet you.”

Was that creepy? His soulmate wasn’t responding, so it was probably creepy. “Sorry. That was kinda creepy.”

They still weren’t saying anything, and Roman was starting to worry. A question would prompt a response, right? “Are you a boy or a girl?” After a moments hesitation, Roman added, “I’m a boy.”

Oh, what if his soulmate was a boy, and he assumed in this heteronormative society that Roman was straight? What if he thought that he would be disappointed and then they would feel pressured to lie and then they would never meet?

“I’m bi.” Oh, what if they were homophobic? Then he would end up like Randy. No one wanted to end up like Randy. 

No, if his soulmate was homophobic, it wasn’t meant to be, soulmate or otherwise. 

With that thought, Roman climbed into bed, sure that he would have an answer in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are all big gay

Oh no. 

Ohhhhh no. 

Virgil woke up, and his skin was tingling. 

Meaning he had a message from his soulmate.

“Get up, boy!” And his parents were coming.

Virgil hopped out of bed and got dressed in a flash, pulling on long socks to cover the writing that had begun to crawl up his leg. 

He opened his door to see his father standing at the end of the hallway.

“There you are, lazy slug. Staying up late for that soulmate of yours were you? Writing messages?”

“N-no sir.” His leg burned.

His father seemed to relax a little at that, but was still stiff. “Good. Now do the dishes. You’ll have time.” He added, as Virgil opened his mouth to speak. “If you didn’t wanna do em today, you should have done them last night.”

Virgil shut his mouth and complied. What else could he do? After all, his father was right. If he had done them last night, he wouldn’t have had to do it today.

The dishes looked a lot more daunting then they actually were, and Virgil even had time to get breakfast. Granted, toast wasn’t the best thing ever, but it was better then nothing. 

Once he was at school, Virgil went to the bathroom, unable to deal with his leg anymore. One of the quirks about writing was it would tingle until you looked at the message, and the one on Virgil’s foot had been stewing since last night.

Shaking, Virgil pulled off his sock and stared. It was so much worse then he thought. There was writing not only on his foot, but also on his thighs and upper legs. Virgil was suddenly glad he wore his school outfit to bed, as this would provoke quite the attack near his parents.

Near where he had written hello, sparkly red cursive had written, in order, _Hello Soulmate! I can’t wait to meet you. Sorry if that was creepy. Are you a boy or a girl? I’m a boy. I’m bi._

Above that, though, there was a near print in navy blue. 

Two soulmates? Not unheard of, but very rare. Navy used formal language, with the first message reading something about schedules. Red and Navy had chatted back and forth, until Virgil, scanning his leg, realized that there was a third color.

A third color. 

Three?! Three soulmates?!

This color was grey, and was messy in a cute way, their letters sliding every which way. 

Both Navy and Red seemed to be surprised at a third. But it didn’t seem like Grey or Navy even knew Virgil existed. Scanning the messages, it didn’t look like Red brought up the late night message anywhere. It was probably for the best. 

Virgil tugged his leg back into the jeans, grateful for the lack of tingling. He stood up and sighed, before unlocking his door and leaving the restroom. Classes didn’t wait for a person with three soulmates. 

His hand started tingling, and Virgil glanced down to see Red writing out a message.

_Hey so this might seem weird but did either of you write in purple last night? No ones written in purple since, but their handwriting is different._

Grey was quick to reply, scrawling out his response on his wrist. _No, I fell asleep around 10ish. Was so tired._

Navy also chimed in. _Following my schedule led me to bed before any chatter could occur last night._

Virgil stopped. They cared about him? They were asking about him? 

He debated what to do. Should he tell them? He wasn’t allowed to write. But if they cared...

Against his better judgment, Virgil uncapped his pen. 

_Hey._ He wrote. 

_Ahhh hello purple!!!_ Grey wrote with a smiley face. 

_Wow._ Wrote Navy. _Three soulmates. This was not what I was expecting._

Virgil raised his eyebrow. _Sorry to disappoint._

 _Oh, no,_ Navy wrote, _It’s just the odds of three soulmates are extremely small._

 _Sarcasm, Teach_ Virgil scribbled. _You should learn it._

 _Blue, are you a teacher?_ Red asked.

_No, I believe that was a ‘nickname’, correct?_

By this point, Virgil’s school would start in ten minutes, and the conversation had scrawled his arm. 

_Yeah. Quick questions cause I gtg but I wanna know things about u guys!_ Grey scribbled. _Are you a boy or a girl? I’m a guy but I’m pan._

 _I’m male._ Navy wrote.

 _Bi guy, here._ Red added. _Purple?_

 _Guy. Hella gay._ Virgil wrote. _I gtg too, talk soon?_

 _Yeah!_ Grey’s words read. _But now I really got to go to class, see you!_

 _Bye, Grey._ Navy wrote.

 _I thought it was gray?_ Red wrote.

 _They have the same meaning,_ Navy explained, _but grey is traditionally the British way of spelling it whereas gray is the more American way. Goodbye._

 _Farewell, everyone!  
_ Red wrote with a flourish.

Virgil smiled. 

Maybe having soulmates wasn’t such a bad idea after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *eyes emoji*  
> 18 subs??? On my fic??? My terrible writing??? How???
> 
> Seriously tho thanks for all the kudos and comments! Y’all have blown me away with your support so thank you!

“ _Hey guys..._ ” Roman scribbled. “ _What’s the square of 12? I’m having a total brain fart._ ”

“ _No._ ” Navy wrote. “ _You are_ not _using us to cheat._ ”

“ _Cheating is bad, Red!_ ” Gray added.

“ _Please?_ ” Roman wrote. It was the last question on his test, and he had already done the rest! “ _Purple?_ ”

“ _First off,_ ” Purple wrote, “ _144\. Secondly, I learned that in middle school. Thirdly,_ ” The writing paused. 

“ _Really? Did you have to help him?_ ” Navy wrote. 

There was no response for a few minutes, until Purple wrote, “Are...”

“ _What, kiddo?_ ”

“ _Are we gonna tell each other our names?_ ”

“MR. PRINCE!” His teacher yelled, making him flinch. “I assume, by your smile you have finished the test?”

Roman’s face turned red as the class turned to stare at him. “Uh, yes ma’m.”

“And yet,” She added, “You haven’t turned it in. You wouldn’t happen to be,” She paused for dramatic effect, “ _Cheating_ , would you?”

“No! I would never!” Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.

His teacher sighed. “I’m choosing to believe you this time, Mr. Prince, but don’t make this a habit. Now, if you’re done, come turn in your test.”

Roman stood up, his face burning. He began the walk for shame, all too aware of the stares his classmates were giving him. After that, class seemed to crawl, his attention drifting from the book he was reading every second. 

Finally, _finally_ , class was over, and Roman rushed to read the conversation that had happened without him. 

“ _We have yet to include names._ ” Wrote Navy. 

“ _I thought it was on purpose? Like a game!_ ” Gray added.

“ _That’s romantic._ ” Said Roman, adding to the conversation. “ _True love always finds a way_.” 

“ _I think it’s plenty romantic enough._ ” Purple wrote. “ _This convo is getting long_.” Indeed, the writing had rode up to their elbow. 

“ _So, are we giving names or not?_ ” Gray asked.

“ _Compromise_ ,” Navy suggested, “ _We each give the first letter of our names_.”

“ _Sounds great!_ ” Gray said. “I’ll go first! I’m P.”

“ _L._ ” Navy wrote. 

“ _V. I gotta get to my next class_.”

Roman began to power walk as he realized that he only had two minutes to get to his next class. He continued to stare at the letters, committing them to memory. They seemed to fit perfectly. 

Roman was so caught up staring at the letters that he didn’t notice the kid until he knocked into him, sending him tumbling to the floor.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Roman asked as he held out his hand to help the stranger up. The kid just glared at him, and got up, completely ignoring his hand. Once he was up, he glared again and...hissed?

Roman lowered his hand, making his soulmarks visible. “I’m sorry, did you just...hiss at me?”

The kid shrunk into his hoodie, fingering the fraying sleeves. “Yeah. I do that when I reach my limit of tall jackasses.” His eyes glanced to Roman’s arm, and a look of recognition flashing on his face.

“Yeah, I have three soulmates. What about it?”

Hoodie boy puffed up, as if he were going to say something, but deflated. “Do they help you cheat often?”

Before Roman could formulate a response, hoodie boy smirked and walked off, leaving Roman staring at the spot where he had been until the bell rang, making him late for class.

-  
Virgil was up late, later then be should have been, but he had to make sure that his parents were asleep.

“ _Hey, I think I met one of you irl._ ”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter update today, sorry! Still trying to figure out the best way to write. Anyway, what format do you like the most for the soulmate writing? _This_ , “ _This_ ,” or “This”?

It was after midnight, so all the marks of the previous day were gone, but Virgil had to make sure his parents were asleep.

Plus, it was quickly filling up with new ones.

Pop (nicknamed so for his tendency to call everyone kiddo) kept writing “What?” Over and over. 

“The odds of that are infinitesimal.” Teach reasoned.

“But not impossible, right?” Red asked.

“Not technically, but still.” Teach response. 

“Who do you think you met?”Pop asked, breaking all his whys.

“I’m not sure.” 

“Maybe you could tell us what you look like?” Red suggested.

“Isn’t that like breaking a rule?” Virgil asked.

“One of the unspoken rules of soulmates is not disclosing any information about yourself such as your full name or details about your self. Of course, we could break the rule?” Teach informed.

“Yeah, can’t we?” Virgil asked. He _really_ didn’t want to talk to anyone. “I may not have even met you.”

He ignored the feeling that said he did. The markings weren’t that similar, right? He could have just twisted them inside his head. That ‘tall jackass’ as he had been dubbed earlier, couldn’t be one of his soulmates. Teach had said so himself.

“Just talk to whoever you think it could be!” Red wrote. “I’m excited!!!”

“Yeah! V, we could meet you!” Pop exclaimed.

“Night.” Virgil wrote. He would think about it tomorrow. 

“Goodnight everyone.” Teach wrote.

Virgil clicked off his lamp, plunging the room into darkness. Tomorrow he would either meet his soulmate, or completely ridicule himself.

He just hoped it was the former.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, we need a Remy to kickstart the plot 
> 
> I just learned about him and he is my SON like dear god I love him so much he’s just so snarky

There he was. 

Roman Prince, as he had learned. Sure, the cheating scandal had traveled fast, and he was definitely flustered with Virgil brought it up, or rumors were just that-rumors.

Virgil wasn’t sure how he had gotten to sophomore year without seeing him. Honestly, sometimes Virgil wish he wasn’t so gay. Just look at him! Sending a smile and a quick flirt to anybody. Apparently, he was in theater. But, if he was Virgil soulmate, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t want him.

He either Roman from across the cafeteria, trying to work up the nerve to go talk to him. After studying him, Virgil thought he was Red. The letter matched, but he could’ve lied about it, and his flirtyness suggested he was bi and very open about it. Even when he talked, it seem to match the dramatic flair that Red wrote with.

But he still wasn’t sure. He needed more proof.

Virgil picked up his bag and went to the bathroom. He pulled out the purple pen that he now kept in his locker to keep it away from his parents, and drew a big heart on his cheek. Quickly, before then ink could dry and half walked half jogged back to his spot. Breathing heavily, he glanced over to Roman...

To see a splotchy purple heart on his cheek.

“Oh my god. Ohhhh my god.” Virgil said.

“You good, gurlfriend?” His friend Remy asked, sipping his coffee.

“Roman Prince.”

“Yeah?” Remy glanced over to where he was sitting, surrounded by his friends.

“He’s-he’s one of my soulmates.” Remy has been one of the few people Virgil told about the multiple colors.

“What?”

“I drew that heart.”

“Well, go to him, dummy!”

“But-“

“Oh my god,” Remy said. “Now it not the time for your anxiety.” He pulled out his own pen-a creamy brown-and wrote _Look at the good eats poster._

“Remy,” Virgil hissed, pulling his sleeve back up.

“Virgil,” Remy hissed back. “Your soulmate!”

Virgil turned away from him. _Sorry. That was my friend._

“Nope, nope, I will not except this!” Remy shouted. “You are _so_ stupid!” He turned away from Virgil. To Roman.

“Remy!” Virgil hissed, his face red.

“Oi! Princey!” Remy shouted, his hands cupped over his mouth. Roman looked over, confused. “Bitchboy! Over here.”

Remy grabbed Virgil’s hand and dragged him over to Roman’s table, Virgil hissing all the while.

“Hello? Oh, hoodie boy! I’m so sorry I knocked into you-you ran off before I could apologize correctly.”

“Here’s the thing. ‘Hoodie boy’ as you’ve dubbed him-btw, Virgie, I’m totes using that now-but anyways, he’s your soulmate. Toodles!”

Roman looked at Virgil, who’s face turning red. “So are you Vee, then?” He looked hopeful. 

Virgil became increasingly aware of the eyes on him and Roman. “U-uh,”

He was cut off by his face tingling, as Pop had started to draw little rainbow hearts around the purple one. Roman’s eyes widened.

“So it _is_ true,” He breathed. “Vee, will you be my boyfriend?”

“Uh, uh,” Virgil stammered. “I-don’t know.”

A flash of hurt graced Roman’s face, making Virgil feel guilty.

“And why the hell not?” One of his friends challenged.

Roman shushed him. “Thomas, not now.”

“Yes, Roman, now. Why not?”

Virgil’s mind raced, trying to come up with an answer. Why _didn’t_ he want to be Roman’s boyfriend? It’s not like they were total opposites-oh, wait.

“Why do you want to be mine?” Virgil eventually said. 

“Because I love you.” Roman said, staring at him. His expression bore no hesitation, no trace of regret. It was all open and honest and the type of mush Virgil _hated_ but somehow didn’t mind right now. “I love your little notes, how you doodle and pretend that you’re tough and-“

“But I’m not-“ Oh, he interrupted. Now Roman was going to hate him forever why couldn’t _he have just let him speak_ -

“Not what? Because I can’t think of a single thing that would make that sentence true.”

“Oh. My. God.” Another one of Roman’s friends said. “Skip to the making out already, I hate exposition.

“JOAN!” Thomas scolded.

“What?” Joan asked, crossing their arms. “They’re soulmates, it’s not like they’re incompatible or something.”

“As...brash as Joan is, they’re right, you know. The universe wanted us together. Now, he here we are. Together.”

There was another tingle on his cheek as Teach added a heart of his own.

“I love you, Vee, and you don’t have to say it back. But, give me a chance. Look,” he said, ripping off a piece of paper and scribbling something on it. “Here’s my number. Call me, and I’ll pick you up. We can go on as many dates as you want. We can take it at your speed. Just please, give me a chance.”

Virgil looked at the paper, then back at Roman’s pleading look. “Okay.” He finally said. “Okay.”

He grabbed the slip just as the bell rang, singling the end of lunch. 

He didn’t see Roman for the rest of the day, even though he wasn’t really looking for him. When he got home and passed the Parent check (he had put a bandaid over the hearts, blaming it on clumsiness), he reached out his phone and texted Roman.

 **Olive Garden on 75 &Creek RD at eight?** Roman didn’t respond immediately, making Virgil wonder if he had said something wrong. Did Roman not like Olive Garden? Was he overthinking it? A reply beeped through and Virgil lunged for his phone.

**Sounds good, handsome.**

Virgil started to type out a reply, but a new message came in before he could send it.

**Hey. U called me a jackass!**

Virgil snorted. He did, didn’t he? **Well it’s tru.**

**Uh. Not true!**

Virgil could almost hear the offended gasp from Roman. Maybe it was just the lateness of the hour, but he felt deliriously happy. 

He had a date!

Oh my god, he had a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god finally
> 
> My boi has a date!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited date! Sorry it’s been so long ahhhh
> 
> TW:  
> Homophobic Language and Attitude
> 
> Also me??? Making Remy’s last name sleep in German??? It’s more likely than you’d think

Virgil flicked nervously at his button up, unsure of...well, everything about this. 

What if his parents found his room empty? They never checked before, but what if they did tonight? Was he trying to hard with his outfit? Roman was his soulmate after all, so would he really care if he was wearing a button up or not? 

Still, Virgil had put a lot of effort into this outfit for Roman. He was dressed up in a dark purple button up and some black slacks that he had stolen from a friend last year. He also had a black tie from the friend-don’t get him wrong, if the guy hadn’t moved away, Virgil would have (probably) given the clothes back.

Thinking back, that friend had been his first real crush. He couldn’t remember his name, as so much had happened last year, but he was pretty sure it started with a L. 

“Hello, welcome to Olive Garden.”

“Um, hello. Two adults please.”

“Right this way.” The server said, gathering up menus in their arms. 

Virgil followed the server to a table, noting how they got one with a booth, so he would be across from Roman. Very close to Roman. 

“Here you go, sir, a waiter will be with you soon.”

“Th-thanks.” Virgil said, smiling awkwardly. As they walked away, Virgil just hoped that he hadn’t seemed too weird.

The door chimed, and Virgil looked up to see Roman, who looked _amazing_ in a red velvet dress. 

“Roman!” He shouted, raising his hand. Roman spun around, and upon seeing Virgil, started walking over to him.

“Hey, Virgil.” Roman said, sliding into the booth opposite him. 

“H-hey.” Virgil responded, blushing. “You look nice.”

“Thanks! I feel a little overdressed though, haha.” 

“Nah. It looks nice on you.”

“You think? I wasn’t sure if a dress was appropriate for the first date, but I jumped the gun.” Roman blushed.

“Yeah. You look way better than me.”

“No, I think you look better. I haven’t seen you in anything but your hoodie.” Roman glanced up at Virgil, realizing their tone. “Not that I don’t like your hoodie, of course.”

“I got the tie from a friend. He moved away before I could give it back, though.”

“I borrow clothes from my friends all the time.” Roman said, picking up on the conversation change. “Like my friend Joan! They have a bunch of beanies-“

“Do you know what drinks you’d like?” Asked a server, a smile big on their face. 

“Ohmigod, Emile!” Roman beamed, turning to them. “Is this the job you were going off about!”

“Is this the date you were going off about?” He teased. 

“Oh! Right! Emile, Virgil. Virgil, Emile.” Roman introduced.

“Hey.” Virgil said, raiding his hand. 

“Hello!” Emile smiled back. “So, I’ll leave you two lovebirds, but drink orders first?”

“I’ll take a coke, please.” Roman said, smiling up at Emile. 

“Just a water. Thanks.” 

“Be right back!” Emile grinned, spinning on his heel and walking away.

Virgil opened the menu, his eyes, flicking back up to Roman, who’s eyes kept flicking up to Virgil. 

“So...” Virgil finally ground out, unable to take the silence any longer. 

“Yeah?” Roman asked.

“Emile is very...extroverted.”

“Yeah, he’s super nice! He’s been working in food service for a while now.” 

“Uh, so, we haven’t told Pop or Teach we met yet.”

“We haven’t?” Roman asked, his brow furrowed. “I thought we did.”

“Well, I brought my pen.” Virgil said, lifting the object up. “Should we?”

“Let’s!” Roman responded, pulling out his own.

 _Guess what two bitches are on a date right now?_ Virgil wrote.

“Virgil!” Roman gasped. “The profanity!”

Virgil smiled, seeing the writing on Roman’s palm. 

_R! And Vee! You did meet one of us!!_ Pop wrote. 

_Am impressive feat._ Teach wrote.

 _You should see Vee._ Roman gushed. _He’s so pretty._

Virgil glanced up, blushing. Well, if he was gonna do that... 

_Nah, you should see R ~~o~~ ed. He’s wearing a dress and looks hot._

_I like wearing skirts!_ Pop wrote. 

“Okay,” Emile said, carrying a tray of drinks, “Here you are. Are we ready to order?”

“Yup, Emsy! I’ll have the spaghetti.”

“Al-Alfredo pasta, please. Thanks.” Virgil stuttered. 

“Okay, that’ll be out in just a minute!” Emile said, taking their menus. Something on Emile’s hand caught his eye, however.

“What’s that on your hand?”

“Oh! My soulmate and I draw little coffee beans back and forth, since we both like coffee. So, food‘ll be out soon.”

“Okay, Emsy!”

Emile walked away, leaving Virgil in shock. 

“You okay, Vee?” 

“Uh-Uh, yeah, yeah. Um. But-I think-“

“Yeah?”

“I think I know Emile’s uh. Soulmate. I think.”

“Really? Who?”

“Uh. The guy who, like, dragged me over to you? Remy? He-uh. Can I text him to make sure?”

“Sure! This is exciting.” Roman wiggles in his seat. 

**Remy. Remy. Answer me!!!! SOS. Do you have ur phone!?!?**

**Gurl, calm yourself. Wassup? Ur on a date, right?**

**You draw coffee beans for ur soulmate. Right??!?!**

**Uh, Yeah? What about it?**

**I met ur soulmate then. Can I give him ur #?**

**obvi!!!!!!!!!**

Remy continued to send exclamation points, but Virgil turned his phone off. 

“I’ll give Emile Remy’s number.”

“Cool! I’m so happy for them!”

“Yeah.”

The two sat in silence for a while, bouncing back and forth from comfortable to awkward. 

“Here’s your food!” Emile exclaimed, sliding the plates to them. 

“Emile! Ohmigod, Virgil knows your soulmate!”

“What? Who?”

“Remy Schlaf. He goes to our school.”

“Can you give me his number?” Emile said, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Here go.” Virgil said, scrawling it on a napkin and handing it to Emile. 

“Thanks! Enjoy your food.” Emile bounded off, mumbling to himself about taking a break. 

Virgil looked at Roman. “That’s good luck.”

“Yeah. He looked so happy.”

“They’ll make for a cute couple.” Virgil said. 

“I hope so. Emile’s been waiting to meet his soulmate for a while. His birthday was in January.”

They kept eating, although the talk from another table kept interrupting their thoughts.

“Is that boy in a dress?”

“Are those two boys on a date? Gross.”

“Why do they have to do that here?”

“My god, they’re going to hell.”

Virgil glanced at Roman. “You hear them too?”

Roman nodded, and Virgil saw how tight his fork was in his grasp. “Homophobes.”

“Let’s just ignore them.”

“Hey!” A woman shouted from the next table over. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m on a date with my boyfriend.” Roman glared. “You have a problem?”

“Yeah, f*g. You should be in a _real_ relationship. With a girl?”

“Drop it, Roman.” Virgil warned. 

“No, Virgil.” Roman said back, his voice tense. 

“Look, as much as I’d like to deck them, we’re better off leaving it alone.”

“Why are you wearing a dress? Huh? You trynna be a girl?”

“You’re just mad because I look better in it than you, bitch!” Roman cried, unable to hold back anymore.

The homophobe stood up, enraged, and started to storm over to their table but an employee got in the way.

The two boys couldn’t hear was the waiter was saying, nor was the homophobe said back, but soon, the homophobe stormed out, leaving her (quite embarrassed) friend to pay.

Right before the friend left, they came over to the table. “I’m sorry for my...company. Rest assured, I will not be hanging with her anymore. Here,” He said, putting twenty dollars on the table, “Get some desert. On me.”

“Thank you.” Virgil whispered. He wasn’t confident that his voice could go any louder without breaking into tears. 

The friend hesitated for a second, then scurried off to follow the homophobe. Virgil picked at his food, suddenly losing all appetite.

“Fucking hell.” Roman whispered. “Knew I shouldn’t have worn the dress.”

Virgil took a breath, trying to decide what to say. Eventually he just settled on silence, and the rest of the meal followed suit. 

When they had both finished, Virgil paid with the twenty, as desert seemed like the last thing he wanted to do.

The two boys stood outside the restaurant, both wondering what to say. That event had put a damper on their whole night. 

Eventually, Virgil spoke softly. “I should go.”

“Yeah.” Roman agreed. “See you tomorrow?”

“See you at school.” Virgil told him. 

He started to walk away, but hesitated, and turned back. “Roman?” 

“Yeah?”

“Do you maybe...want to go to the dance with me?” 

“The spring fling? Isn’t that in like four months?”

“Well, yeah, but do you wanna go with me?”

Roman grabbed his hand. “I would love nothing more.”

For a heartbeat, Virgil felt as though Roman would kiss him. For a heartbeat, he _wanted_ Roman to kiss him.

The moment passed and Roman let go. “See you, Vee.”

Roman turned and walked away, and Virgil did the same. His house was only a block away, and sneaking back in was a lot easier than sneaking out. 

_Night, everyone._ Roman wrote.

_Night._

Pop and Teach bid their good nights as well, and Virgil drifted off to a fitful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw:   
> HEAVY PATTON ANGST  
> self harm  
> Cutting  
> Feelings of worthlessness
> 
> Just a short angsty break and then we will return to your regularly scheduled fluff!

Patton loved his soulmates. With all his heart.

He was also terribly, terribly, _terribly_ jealous of them.

Horrible, he knew, especially since they were happy. Red and Vee were...happy, and they didn’t need to worry about how he was feeling. 

He was happy for them, too! They got to meet up in real life. And go on dates. And probably kiss, or snuggle, or do all sorts of cute couplesy stuff. 

But he was so jealous. 

He shouldn’t be. He had great friends, and they supported him and were everything that he could want. Missy adored puns with him, Talyn was quick with the sass, and Valerie shined in her own way. 

Still, sometimes, all Patton could think about was Vee and Red together and it _hurt_. 

~~They don’t need you anyways. Better off.~~

Vee and Red, Red and Vee. 

He cried the first time they referenced an inside joke that Patton didn’t get. 

But, he would still be there. ~~They don’t want you to be.~~ A quick scribble good morning and goodnight. Even as the level of conversation winded down, and Patton would go the whole day without seeing any messages. 

~~They weren’t talking because of him.~~

Patton opened his laptop, silently hating that he had to google this. But even if it wasn’t for a school project, he would have ended up googling it at one point or another. 

**Does self harm show up on a soulmates skin?**

He hit search, silently cursing the school for making them do this project on soulmates anyways. Did it really matter? ~~Yes. If he was going to, he wouldn’t want to hurt his soulmates.~~

The results popped up, and after looking at the results, it was a firm ‘no’. ~~Luckily~~

Patton opened up the project and typed the final answer in. He wasn’t sure why he had saved that question for last ~~lie~~ but now the project was done. He clicked submit, dimly noticing that it was late, and he _really_ should go to bed now.

Oh, but Valerie had been invited to a party tonight, right? That was why he had stayed up in the first place.

Patton grabbed his phone, tired beyond all get out but wanting to make sure that Val was okay.

He unlocked his device and saw that he had three messages. From Valerie.

**(1) Hey Patty! Got to the party safe! I know you’re waiting up, go to bed!**

**(2) Patty, you’ll never guess! I met my soulmate!** There was a picture attached to this one, of Valerie and a boy.

**(3) Home safe, Pat. You can sleep now lol. See you tmrow!!!**

Oh. He-

She hadn’t needed him. Of course, she hadn’t needed him. Of course, she was fine. Hell, she even met her soulmate. She was...fine. Without him.

Patton bit back a sob. He had been stupid to think she even needed him in the first place. Val was a grown ass girl, and she could go to a party without him worrying.

~~You truly are worthless.~~

He really was worthless. 

~~Unneeded. Unwanted.~~

No one wanted him around. He gave nothing to the group. 

Worthless.

He stood up, and headed for his drawer of supplies. Putting his pencils away, something metal caught his eye. Scissors. 

He grabbed the scissors. ~~What was he doing?~~

He opened them. The sharp edge gleamed. ~~This was moving to fast.~~

He moved them to his arm. **Self Harm does Not show up On your Soulmate.**

~~No, wait. _Waitwaitwaitwait_ -~~

His arm stung. 

Patton dropped the scissors, his mind catching up to his body. 

What the hell? 

A drop of red fell down to the floor below. 

Patton shook his head to clear the funk, and grabbed a bandaid. It would be fine. It was an...accident. But-it was fine now. No harm, no foul. His-it didn’t show on his soulmates. It was-fine.

~  
Logan Croft was woken up by a sharp stinging in his arm. 

Groaning, he flicked on an light and glared at his cat, Blueberry.

“Did you do that?” He whisper yelled. The cat just stared at him, so Logan concluded that the animal was too far away to have caused the scratch. 

Logan looked down at the hurt area in the light to see a thin, black line. He did a double take, looking again. 

He...had to talk with his soulmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Patton should have done a bit more research...


	8. Sunflower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another pretty long one! I’m storing you with some reading so that when I inevitably take my break, you’ll have plenty of reading material. 
> 
> Tw:  
> Homophobic language  
> Feelings of worthlessness  
> Physical abuse (referenced)

Lu was writing.

Why was he writing?

_Please I know what that is who did that write please_

But...google had said…

Patton opened his computer, and looked at the results more closely.

**While in the past, scars would not show up on your mates skin. However, at the start of the decade, a thin black line will show up whenever your soulmate hurts themselves with the intent of hurting themselves.**

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, _shitshitshitshit._

Patton grabbed his pen, but hesitated and put it down, grabbing a red one instead. 

Shakily, for his cursive was not very good, Patton wrote _Sorry, dear soulmate, I was cutting paper and the scissors slipped._

Patton held his breath, hoping that Lu would fall for it. He must have, because all Lu wrote was _Oh. Goodnight._

He released his breath, relived. But Red would cover for him. Probably. Maybe...he wouldn’t even see the mark.

Patton went to bed, guilt churning in his stomach.

-

Logan sighed. It was R. And he said it was an accident from...making a collage? He wasn’t sure why else you would cut paper for, but R was by far the most artsy one.

As long as he wasn’t harming himself, Logan supposed it was fine.

-

Roman woke up with the sun, his head doing a little happy dance when he realized it was Saturday. 

He glanced over to a sunflower collage and the glue seem to have dried. Along with the whole-Saturday-so-no-school thing, he could bring it over to Virgil!

Roman swung out of bed when he noticed that he had a message from his soulmate. Oh, he loves getting messages!

Looking down, however, he found. It was Azul but it was also...him? Granted, he had been up late finishing the collage, but he was certain that he would’ve remembered.

Even stranger were the messages themselves. Something about cutting yourself? He twisted his arm around, trying to read it all.

Tenderly, he ran a finger over the black line, wondering what it was. 

Oh. 

But no, he really would have remembered doing...that.

Roman read the final message and almost laughed in relief. 

He had always scarred easy, this was true. It might just be a scar-apparently from some scissors. Well, now he would have something to always remember the collage by-it would also explain why it kind of hurt.

Roman fluttered over to his phone to check the time, and saw that Virgil had texted him.

**Dark Night: (1) Bitch**

**(2)You better tell me this isn’t true**

**(3) Roman please answer**

**(4) I have to go stay safe**

**(5) I’m back**

**(6) Please**

**Prince: Virgil. Chill.** He texted back. **I’m alright.**

 **Dark Night: Tell me you didn’t.** His message prompted.

 **Prince: Chill. No, I didn’t.** Roman opened up his camera and took a picture of the collage, sending it to him. **I was making this cause u said u like sunflowers right**

 **Dark Night: Oh.** Roman could imagine Virgil’s face heating up. **Sorry.**

 **Prince: Sorry.** Roman texted back. **Want to meet up later? I’d like to give it to you.**

 **Dark Night: I’ll have to ask my parents.** Inwardly, Roman rolled his eyes. Almost every time Roman tried to ask him out, Virgil needed to ask his parents. Like, honestly, if he didn’t want to go out, Virgil could just say so!

**Prince: Okay, love.**

Roman click off his phone and started to get dressed. As he did, he found himself getting increasingly mad. 

He wanted to see his boyfriend! He had been so happy when Virgil embraced the title, but now it seemed Virgil would have liked it better if they hadn’t met at all.

A soft knock came from behind the door. “You up, Roman?”

“Yes, Mami.” Roman shouted back. He walked over and opened the door.

His mami stood there, her smile quickly turning to a frown. Gently, she reached out and grabbed his cheek. “What’s wrong, mi niño?”

“It’s stupid.” Roman said, leaning into her. 

“If it’s upsetting you, then it’s not.” She assured.

“I just feel like I never see Virgil anymore. His parents never let him go out and-“ Roman sobbed. “What if it isn’t his parents? What if he just doesn’t want to be with me anymore?”

-  
 _”Worthless thing. Go do chores, maybe then you’ll get to eat something later.”_  
-

“Oh, Roman.” His mami sighed. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast and talk.”

The son and mother went over to the table.

“Hey, sweetheart. Morning, Roman.” Roman’s mom said while reading her notes.

“Love, we need to talk.” His mami said, placing both her hands on his shoulders and all but shoving Roman forwards.

-  
 _“What’s that on your arm, boy?”_  
-

Roman’s mom glanced up, making the dark circles under her eyes obvious. “Hhm?”

“Roman’s worried about Virgil.”

-  
 _”WHAT DID WE TELL YOU ABOUT SOULMATES? HUH?”_  
-

“It’s just...every time I try and talk to him, he never seems to be able to go out. What if he just doesn’t want to go out with me?”

“Oh, Roman, I’m sure he does.”

-  
 _“BUT I LOVE HIM!” Virgil calmed his hands over his mouth._  
-

“If we were more strict, would you want Virgil to blame himself every time you couldn’t go out?”

“What?! No!”

“So how’s this any different?”

-  
 _He had fucked up he had fucked up he had-_  
-

Roman slumped. “I guess it isn’t.”

“If he wanted to ignore you, Roman, would he text you? Would he talk to you at school?”

“I...guess not.”

-  
 _Virgil lay on the floor, his vision swimming with stars and a metallic tang in his mouth._

 _“Get up. Go to your room, and don’t come out.”_  
-

“You could just do what I did!” His mami said. “Go over there, talk like you’re the boss. His papa will have no choice but to agree.” 

“Sweetheart, no! Remember how my dad reacted?” His mom added, giggling.

“Oh, he was so shocked! But, it did get you un-grounded.”

“True, love.”

His parents, with his mom looking considerably brighter, kissed while Roman thought.

Maybe, if he went over to Virgil’s house...

-  
 _”Strip.” His dad said, tossing him a pair of biker shorts. “We’re going to read your messages one way or another.”_  
-

Roman shifted the sunflower collage under his arm, checking for the third time that he had the right address. He rung the bell, hoping that Virgil would be the one to answer.

“Hello?” Asked a woman.

“Hi, I’m Roman, Virgil’s friend? I’ve got something for him.” Roman said confidently.

The woman blinked, scowling for a second. “Roman. The soulmate.”

“Uh...yes ma’am.”

“Virgil doesn’t want you here. Go away.” She said, almost slamming the door in his face.

“Wait!” Roman cried. She opened up the door a little. “What do you mean he doesn’t want to see me?”

“I mean, he finally figured out that he was better off with us and not _you_.”

“Can...you at least give him this?” Roman asked, holding out the collage.

“Whatever. Leave.” The woman hissed, her tone laced with poison.

After he woman had taken the art, Roman walked home, feeling empty. 

Why hadn’t Virgil wanted him? 

What did he do wrong?

-  
“He’s cute.” His mother amended. “Now, hand be the fire poker.”

Virgil stared, broken hearted, as Roman’s sunflower burned with the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If nothing makes sence-don’t worry, it’ll be explained.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story is mostly going to be princexiety and logicality so....

Logan slid on his polo and a jacket, his arm stinging slightly from where R had slipped with the scissors. He slipped on a tie and walked out to the kitchen to see his older sister pouring some coffee.

“Hello.” She said courtly.

“Good morning. Do you have class this afternoon?”

“Nah. Looking at houses. Remember Peirview? There’s a little apartment there.”

“What does Charles think?” Logan asked.

“Look, Lo, I don’t care what Charles thinks.”

“But he’s your soulmate, Liv.”

“My _platonic_ soulmate.” Olive corrected. “And you’re my baby brother. Not a hard choice.”

Logan walked over to the table and sat down in front of her. Unsure of how to respond to that, he directed the conversation back to the original topic.

“Pierview, huh? Isn’t that the place from last year?”

“Yeah, you were friends with that emo kid.”

Logan scowled. “His name was Virgil, and he wasn’t emo. Just had an appreciation for a darker aesthetic.”

“Oh! Right! Forgot you had a crush on him, too.”

“Livie, stop.” Logan groaned. “He was so straight.”

“Maybe he had a gay awakening.” She gasped. “Maybe you’ll meet him again!”

“I doubt that.” Logan said. “Why would we move there, anyways?”

“It’s cheap. And, wouldn’t it be nice to move back to our hometown?”

“That place is as much as our hometown as the other three states and twelve cities we’ve lived in were.”

“But this one is cheap.”

“How much is it selling for?”

“Not too much. Bit of a stretch, but not too much.”

“How much.” Logan said firmly.

Olive dropped her gaze. “I’d have to drop classes.”

Logan took a breath. “Then we stay.”

He knew that the money was tight. It had been for a while now, and their house would sell for quite a bit. But, if Olive would have to drop classes, it was better to not have to change at all.

“Logan.” Olive said, her tone suddenly serious. “I have to tell you something. Can you listen for a bit?”

He nodded.

“This house-we can’t live here for much longer.”

“But-we renewed the lease!”

“But my new insurance doesn’t support financial aid. Nor does it help with college. We-we can’t afford this huge house anymore.”

Logan felt tears spring to his eyes. “How long have you known?”

“About a month now. Why else would I be looking at apartments? Logan, Pierview is a small town. We’ll be able to get involved in the community, and-“

“We have community here! All our stuff is here! All of mom and dad’s stuff is here. Where is it gonna go?”

“We’ll have to donate it or something.”

“But-but Livi-“

“ _MOM AND DAD ARE DEAD, LOGAN!_ They’re not coming back, and it’s time you grow up and learn that!” Olive shouted.

“You can’t just dump all their stuff!”

“Watch me! Look, I am trying. **I am trying** , okay? You think I want to drop class? You think I want to work three jobs? Logan, I can’t do everything. Fuck.” She dropped her head into her hands. “I’m sorry. I-I need a minute.”

She walked into her room, gently shutting the door behind her.

Logan started trembling. 

Since when had she picked up a third job? Why hadn’t she told him about the financial issues? He had made a budget. It-it should have worked. Olive should be able to go to class, and they should be able to stay here, and-

Logan took a shakey breath, trying to calm down the rampage in his head. He walked out to the garage, knowing that Olive’s ‘break’ would last the better part of an hour. 

He slid his big coat off the hook, remembering the last time he had cried.

It was in the hospital. Even as he waited outside the intensive care unit, he knew that nothing would be the same. Even then, he had a chance of a better life.

His dad died instantly in the collision.

His mom died in the hospital.

The driver walked away with a broken arm.

Logan grabbed his pen and moved to write, his hand shaking. 

_I’m moving._

_Cool!_ Wrote P almost instantly. _Where to?_

 _Rules._ He wrote regrettably. 

_Oh._

_It’s someplace I’ve been before. Moving sucks though._

_Yeah._

Logan slid on the coat and walked outside, appreciating the cool air. He checked the temperature-thirty two degrees. Not too bad.

Oddly, he saw a boy standing on the riverbank in nothing but a t-shirt. Wouldn’t that boy be cold?

———

Lu was moving. 

That’s...great.

“I’m going out for a bit.” Patton told his parents. Not like they cared very much.

He walked to the riverbank, his hair blowing in the wind. It was a little chilly, but he had forgotten his cardigan at home and didn’t really feel like going to get it. 

“You are aware that it is currently thirty-two degrees, correct?” Asked a strange voice. Patton whirled around to see a stranger staring at him quizzically. He was about the same height as Patton, but looked ages more serious. With his trenchcoat, he almost looked like an offbrand Sherlock. 

“Yeah? And?”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine.”

The stranger rolled his eyes. “You must be cold. Here, take my coat.”

The stranger slipped it off, leaving himself in a light jacket, and handed it to Patton.

“What’s your name?” Patton asked. 

“Logan Croft. You?”

“Patton Heart. Do you live here too?”

“In this neighborhood? Yes, although not for much longer. I’m moving.”

“My soulmate is moving too.” Patton said, holding out his arm. Logan’s eyes went wide, making Patton wonder if he had said something wrong.

“Everything okay, kiddo?”

Logan’s eyes went even wider. “You...you’re P?”

“What?”

“I’m L. Blue. Teach.” Logan ripped off his jacket, showing the writing on his arm.

Patton gasped, his eyes shining. 

~~He’ll reject you too.~~

“Oh, this-“ He laughed. “I was not expecting...”

“Me neither...” Logan said. He seemed out of breath. 

“You wannna...”

“...sure?”

“I...have coffee?” Logan offered. 

“I have free time.”

“Shall we, then?”

Patton linked his arm in Logan’s, not missing how deeply Logan blushed. “We shall.”

The two set off for Logan’s house, the promise of coffee and a lifetime of love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. That friend Virgil was talking about on his date with Roman? That was Logan.
> 
> If you have any questions or just feel like screaming at me, comment below!
> 
> Question for y’all: who’s POV do you wanna see next chapter?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter update today, sorry!

Virgil was laying on the floor when his skin started to tingle. Meekly, he looked at his hand.

It was Teach, he could see that, but the exact words were blurry. He could feel the warm breath of his father, the warning ringing in his ears.

_”I better not find any messages, boy”._

Virgil put his head back on the floor, eyeing the clock. He had minutes until the next check in. He’d...rest until then.

——

Roman was excited for Azul, sure! 

But honestly, he was more upset about Virgil. Sure, call him selfish. But they had been pretty close. And maybe his RSD was acting up. 

Roman had thought Virgil was happy with him! He was sure happy with Virgil...

Roman had even tried to text him. He had gotten two messages out before Virgil blocked him. 

His moms had tried to cheer him up, but Roman was close to inconsolable.

Sunday flew by with trashy romcoms and ice cream, and far too fast, Monday was here.

Roman _really_ didn’t want to go to school, but his parents thought it would be good for him. Mostly? Roman just didn’t want to see Virgil.

But that didn’t seem to be a problem, Roman thought. He didn’t normally see Virgil a lot, as he didn’t have any classes with him, but they always sat together at lunch. 

Even at lunch, however, Roman couldn’t find Virgil (not that he was looking very hard). He sat with his friends, although they looked surprised to see just Roman.

“Hey, guys.” Roman said.

“Hey...Roman, where’s Virgil?” Thomas asked, sounding concerned.

“Oh. We, um...he...” Roman felt like crying again. “We broke up.”

“What?!” Remy exploded. Emile put his hand on Remy’s. 

“But aren’t you soulmates?” Emile asked. 

“Yeah-I don’t know why. I just went over to his house and his mom said he didn’t want to be with me anymore.” Roman sniffled.

“That bitchy coward.” Joan snarled.

“Roman,” Remy said, “Have you talked to Virgil?”

“No. I don’t really wanna.”

“Have you texted him?”

“I tried, but he blocked-why do you care?” Remy stood up, his face white. 

“Is everything okay, love?” Emile asked. 

“I hope so. I have to go.” He ran out the lunchroom door.

Remy was certain of four things in his life.   
One-his name would someday be Remy Picani.  
Two-coffee does not stunt your growth.  
Three-Virgil’s “parents” should never know that he writes to his soulmates.  
Four-They. Should. Never. Know.

The Virgil Remy knew would never dump Roman. Many late night texts were revived gushing about him. 

And the fact that Roman hadn’t talked to Virgil, just his lame excuse of parents? Something wasn’t right there.

He just hoped he could get there in time.


	11. UPDATE: CHAT & OTHER THINGS

Hey! First news: I made a chat for this story! https://www.tumblr.com/chat/UfMerMNA-JttZF8KpbIHcg/mark-on-his-skin-ao3-chat If anyone wants to say hi.

Second news: uploads. This next chapter is kicking my butt, so sorry for that. After this next one, I’m going to try and get more consistent updates (hopefully on fridays) which includes plot constancies. As you know, the pacing had been a little all over the place, but I’m going to try and have less major episodes and less filler episodes too. 

Third news: THANK YOU, thank you, thank you!! I have gotten so much support for this story, and I appreciate every kudos, comment, subscriber, and bookmarker! It blows me away that you guys like my writing. I loved each and every one of you!!

That’s all for now, I’ll try and get the next chapter out soon!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yall. This chapter kicked. My. Butt. I took breaks, rewrote, edited, but I’m still not really satisfied. Sorry. 
> 
> ALSO OVER 100 SUBS??!?!! AND OVER 250 KUDOS?!?!!?!? My writing is so trashy how-
> 
> Also also, my spring break was extended another week bc of covid. Maybe I’ll two chapters out next week, maybe I’ll continue to be lazy. Who knows. 
> 
> Anyways sorry for the wait!

Virgil’s father pressed him to the ground, squishing his face into the hardwood flooring. 

“You know, Virgil, it makes it so hard to protect you when you insist on lying to us.” He snarled. “This is for your own good.”

He pulled out a knife, making Virgil whimper. “If you care about your soulmates so much, why not have a permanent reminder of them?”

He grabbed Virgil’s arm where Teach had written to him. Slowly, agonizingly, he started to trace the letters, drawing blood.

“S-stop...” Virgil whimpered, clawing weakly at his father’s arm. 

Suddenly, he father grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the floor. “Shut up, animal.”

He went back to tracing the letters, going deeper but not quite deep enough for it to scar. 

Sure was deep enough to hurt. 

————

Remy stood outside of Virgil’s house. He had rung the bell, and was now waiting anxiously for a response. 

“C’mon.” He whispered, shifting from foot to foot. “C’mon.”

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Virgil’s mother answer the door. “Hello?”

“Hello. I’m Remy, Virgil’s friend from school? We were grouped together for a project, and I’m here to pick up some papers.”

She blinked and frowned at him. “Virgil’s...sick right now. Why don’t you tell me what papers, and I’ll go get them from you.”

“It would be a lot easier if I could just talk to Virgil.”

“He’s really sick. You wouldn’t want to get sick too.”

Remy started to peer past her, looking for ways into the house. “I’ll take my chances.”

“Just tell me so I can get them or leave.” She demanded. Remy faked to the right and jumped to the left, gaining access to the house. 

He started running upstairs, ignoring the angry hollers from the woman behind him.

“VIRGIL!” He shouted. A cry got his attention, and he dashed into a side room off the hallway. 

He banged open the door, seeing Virgil laying on the floor while being pinned down by his father who had a...knife. 

Someone grabbed his hair from behind, yanking it back to the staircase. Remy, as much as he tried to fight it, was thrown back down the stairs and ushered out by Virgil’s mother. He was shoved out the door, which slammed in his face. 

Remy stared at the door before booking it down the street, where he pulled out his phone. Honestly, he should have done this years ago.

“Pierview 911, what’s your emergency?”

Remy took a deep breath, his body pumping with adrenaline. “My-friend. A...domestic? Right, yeah. Domestic abuse. His parents they’re-they’re hurting him.”

“Can I have the address?”

Remy fed them the information, his stomach twisting into knots. “His name is Virgil Night.”

“I have a cruiser on their way. Hang tight.”

——  
**THREE DAYS LATER**  
——  
“So, everything good, babe?” Remy asked, cradling Virgil’s sleeping bag in one arm and his drink in the other. 

“I...think so. Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way.” Virgil said.

Remy’s parents had taken custody over Virgil after both his parents had been arrested. They, of course, did it with little hesitation, but Virgil was still flinchy around them. Honestly, Remy couldn’t blame him. 

“So, we go back to school tomorrow. You ready?” Remy asked. Virgil shook his head.

“I don’t...it’s gonna be so loud, Rem. And-“ His voice dropped. “What about Roman? My phone was destroyed, and I think my parents were horrible to him.”

“Hey. Look at me, girlfriend.” Remy instructed, cupping Virgil’s head in his hands. “Everything will be fine with Roman. I know you asked me to hold out on texting him, and I have, but if you’d like, we could text him right now.”

“No. I still think it’d be better if we-I saw him in person. That way I could. You know. Explain.”

“If you need help, you know you can ask me.” Remy said. 

“Thanks, Remy. Really.” Virgil said, scratching at his 

“No problem, V. Promise. Now, c’mon, we should rest.”  
———  
Roman couldn’t believe his eyes.

Virgil was here!

Virgil was here.

Virgil was...here.

_”Finally figured out he was better off with us and not you.”_

Roman blew through the door, passing right by Virgil without saying anything. 

“Wai-wait, Roman!” Virgil shouted. Roman kept walking, but Virgil ran right up to him. 

“What.” Roman said cooley, spinning around to meet his eyes. 

“Roman,” Virgil gasped, tearing up, “Whatever-whatever _they_ told you, it wasn’t true. I tried to reach you but-“

“Spit it out.” Roman sneered.

“I never wanted to break up with you. My parents found the marks, and they-they-bad. It was bad. But I never wanted to break up with you!”

“What?” Roman asked, most of his anger dissipating.

“I...didn’t want to break up with you. I had no say, my parents did it. I only found out because Remy told me. I swear, I never wanted to make you think I hated you, Roman.” Apology’s spilled from Virgil’s lips, tears joining the spiel while Roman stood there, shocked. 

“I really wanted none of this to happen they were never meant to find out-“

“Virgil.” Roman interrupted. “I don’t think I could hate you if I tried. Yes, I was upset, but if it wasn’t you...” He took a deep breath. “We’re...getting back together, right?”

“I want to.” Virgil cried. “But if you hate me I’d understand-“

“Didn’t I literally just say I don’t?” Roman asked. “I...yes. Please. I’d like to.” 

“So...we’re back?” Virgil hiccuped.

Roman answered him with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder, we have a chat!  
> https://www.tumblr.com/chat/UfMerMNA-JttZF8KpbIHcg/mark-on-his-skin-ao3-chat  
> Or, if you prefer discord, https://discord.gg/u8et6d
> 
> Also, special thanks to StarryArtist, who complimented my whump! ~~You can blame them for Virgil’s situation.~~ Here’s a link to one of their stories-plenty of Deceit angst and whump ripe for the reading! https://archiveofourown.org/works/22053775


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My schools shut down for another two weeks at least cause of Covid...
> 
> So early chapter yay!!!
> 
> TW:  
> Feelings of uselessness, self deprecating thoughts, bad writing

“Come on, Logan.” Olive said. “You know we can’t do anything about it. We’re just lucky someone wants this house.”

“But-Patton!” Logan knew, deep down, that his argument didn’t have any real merit to it. Meeting your soulmate didn’t really stop your financial problems, great as that would be.

Olive’s gaze softened. “I know. I’m sorry. We just...don’t have a choice.”

Logan’s heart dropped to his feet. “Yeah.” They had gotten a couple of offers on the house, and although they weren’t as much as the siblings had wanted, money was still money, and they couldn’t really afford to say no. 

“Charles, too.” Olive groaned. She moved to sit next to him, slinging her arm over his shoulders. “This sucks.”

“We...don’t have to move.”

“Logan.”

He sighed. As much as he hated moving, this move was exceptionally hard, what with both of them leaving their soulmates behind.

“Who’ve you told so far?” Olive asked. “I know I need to talk to your teachers, anyone else?”

“Well, I have mentioned it to all my teachers, so-“

“Have you told Patton, is what I’m trying to say.”

Logan deflated. “No...I don’t even know what I would say.”

Olive sighed. “Well, you’re gonna have to tell him _something_. We move in three months.”

“I know, it’s just-” Logan sighed. “Where do I even start? I don’t want to leave him. Just when I’ve found one of my fourths, we move again. Not to mention that we believed that this house would stay until I graduated.”

Olive laughed. “Yeah. But you can’t just leave him dry, Logan.”

“I know.” Logan sighed. “I’ll think of something.”

Olive leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “You always do.” 

~~  
Patton had hoped that Logan would corner him after school with good news.

~~You knew this would happen.~~

“Patton, believe me, this is out of my control. If I could stay, I would.”

“I understand.”

~~He doesn’t want to be stuck with _you_. Look, you made him cry.~~

“I am really sorry.”

“W-when do you leave?”

~~He’s just dying to get rid of you.~~

“Three months. I-I really don’t want to move. Please believe me.”

~~He’s lying.~~

“I know. It’s-I’ll get your number. And we can talk everyday, and write to each other, and-we don’t have to stop talking!” Patton cried. Even though Logan wouldn’t want to talk to him, why would he?

“No, of course not!” Logan exclaimed, ripping something from the side pocket of his backpack. Almost desperately, he drew a somewhat shakey heart on the back of his hand. “We’ll always be connected, Patton, no matter what happens.”

~~Listen to that. He’s disgusted.~~

Patton traced the heart that had appeared on the back of his own hand. “I know.”

“Patton.” Logan said, grabbing his hand. “You know how bad I am at emotions, are you okay? We’ll have lots of time together, and as soon as I have the money I’ll come back on my own.”

~~You’re dragging him down with you. He’s moved on, dump him.~~

“Patton?” Logan asked, suddenly looking concerned. “Are you quite alright?”

He-he couldn’t just dump Logan. Logan may not like Patton, but Patton sure as hell loved Logan. He wouldn’t do that to him.

~~It’s for the best.~~

“Fine.” Patton said, forcing himself to smile. “We’ll just have to get as much time together as possible!”

~~He hates you already.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just causally threw in that Remy loved Emile so much that he was gonna marry him and no ones noticed lol whoops
> 
> Also just like imagine Remus was like...somewhere else in chapter eight cause I realized that I forgot to write him in but he’s still Roman’s brother so oop-


	14. Market

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan starts to pack while Patton goes to the market with his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Robin back at it again bringing you some terrible writing!
> 
> Okay for this chapter, TW for implied alcoholism. That’s all I can think of, but let me know if there’s anything else

“Guys, did you hear? Roman Prince kissed someone. Right in the front lobby!”

“No way. Who?”

“I don’t know. Some no name loser.”

“Didn’t he find his soulmate?”

“Really? Shame.”

Virgil stiffened as he heard the conversation topic of the people who sat at the next lunch table over. He glanced over to see if the people talking would see him, the so-called ‘no name loser’. 

Apparently, though, the kiss in question had been a lot shorter than Virgil felt it was, and almost no one who heard about it knew he was Roman’s soulmate. Even now that he didn’t have to worry about his parents finding out, he still enjoyed the somewhat anonymity that floated around his relationship with Roman. 

“Hey Vee!” Roman beamed, carrying his tray over to where Virgil sat. Virgil smiled at his boyfriend, but even Roman’s cheery disposition wasn’t enough to dispel the whispers from the table next to theirs. 

Soon enough, their table had become crowded with Roman’s friends and Remy, everyone chattering away. 

“Hey guys, did you hear that we’re getting a new student?” Joan asked, their hands tapping on the table. “At least in my history class.”

“I’m pretty sure my science teacher mentioned something like that, but I haven’t heard about it otherwise.” Virgil responded. “But like, he said they weren't coming for another three weeks or so, after spring break.”

“I haven’t heard anything like that. Remy?” Roman said.

“Only in science with Virgie. Other then that, nada.” Remy responded. 

“Think they’re hot?” Joan asked. 

“I don’t know, but like...does it matter?” Emile said. 

“Maybe not to you. I’m still looking for my soulmate.” Joan responded. “Like seriously, am I the only single person here? ‘Cept you, Thomas.”

“You can’t exclude the single single person here while asking that, Joan.” Remy tsked. “Not how that works.”

“It could be. Ooo, what do you think the chances of the new kid being my soulmate?” They looked excited. “That would be cool!”

“Pretty small, I’d think.” Roman answered.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.  
///  
Logan sighed, sitting down on his bed. He was surrounded by boxes, taunted by the empty space on the wall where his cork board used to be. 

Rubbing his eyes, he checked his phone to see a message from Patton, making him smile for a brief second.

**Heart: Hey Lolo, just wondering how everything’s going with the move**

**Heart: Sorry I couldn’t come and help**

**Croft: It’s going adequately, thank you for your concern. No need to apologize, I understand you had previous commitments and I do not wish to replace those.** He sent the text and put his phone back down and sighed, starting to pack up his books.  
///  
Patton had wanted to come help move, he really did-anything to spend more time with Logan before he moved. This last month had flown by too fast, and suddenly Logan was moving the week after next. He’d understand if Logan never wanted to see him again after the move, but for now, Logan hadn’t said anything about hating Patton so he assumed hanging out with him was fine.

But his mom had dragged him to the farmers market, and who was he to complain? It was a lovely way to get some nice, local ingredients for food they were never going to cook. 

Plus, it was the one thing his mother would do with him that year, so it really wasn’t something he could pass up.

That didn’t stop him from texting Logan, or writing to Vee and Red, but the little writing he had gotten back was quick and rushed-apparently their spring break was next week whereas Patton and Logan’s school were out this one. 

“Um, Mom?” Patton asked, watching he load up two crates into the cart they had brought. “Do we need this much wine?”

His mom snorted. “You don’t. Come here, baby.” She ruffled his hair with her fingers. “This’ll be the last I buy this year. Promise.”

“O-okay, Mom.” Patton tried to smile. A promise was a promise, after all. “Anything else we need while we’re here?”

His mom thought for a second. “Oh! Yes, could you go grab some blueberries? A box should be good for the three of us, yeah? I’ll make muffins!”

“Cool!” Patton smiled for real. “We haven’t made muffins in a while.”

“Yeah, it has.” She was smiling too. “Here’s some money, could you go get them please? I’ll be by the car loading this stuff in.”

“Okay, Mom.” Patton walked away, looking back to see her grabbing another bottle and placing it in the cart. He sighed. But that would be all for this year, like she had said. Yeah?

Yeah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question for yall bc im really curious:  
> How old do you think I am?


	15. Movers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter’s a little short and kinda filler but my mental health’s been a little shitty lately sorry-

Logan sat outside his house, watching the movers empty all signs that the siblings had lived there for the past year and a half. Patton stood behind him, Dee a little further back then Patton. The three watched the movers, Patton crying a little and Logan feeling like joining him.

He should’ve learned to expect this by now, but it still stung. He really thought that this house would be different-and sure, technically it was, he had made friends (frenemies? They had never defined their relationship) with Dee, and he had met Patton, which was a terrible twist, really, and part of Logan hoped that he had never met Patton in the first place, because then he wouldn’t have to deal with the sting. 

The only reason he had made friends here was because his dad promised they wouldn’t have to move again, and like a fool, Logan had assumed that he had been telling the truth. In other schools, he hadn’t wanted to get close to people. He hadn’t wanted to leave them behind when he inevitability moved again. But now, he was here, and he had let himself get attached, and look where that had gotten him. 

“Logan.” Dee said, stepping next to him. “You need to stop.”

“I’m perfectly adequate.” Logan snapped, ignoring how his voice cracked. 

“Yeah, yeah, c‘mon. We’ll go to my place.” Dee obviously didn’t believe him, but he should. Logan was fine, what was the big deal with all the crying and the movers, and the move, and leaving behind what little life he had started to build here.

“Logan,” Patton joined, his voice watery, “I agree with Dee. This is obviously hurting you.”

“I’m fine.” Why didn’t they believe him? He was...he was...

Crying. 

Logan reached up to feel tears on his cheeks. Huh. 

He slowly moved to sit on the concrete stairs, Dee and Patton joining him and enveloping him in a hug. 

“Shit kid, you alright?” A mover asked, taking his cigarette out of his mouth. 

“He’s fine.” Snapped Patton, hugging Logan closer. 

“Fell.” Added Dee. 

“Yes.” Logan agreed. 

The mover went back to the truck. Patton stood up, offering Logan his hand. “My house would be closer.” He seemed nervous, but Logan was grateful for the offer-if he was to be truly honest with himself, he really didn’t like seeing the things be packed away.

“Let’s go.” Dee affirmed, standing up as well.

“Okay.” Logan agreed after a moment. “Okay.”


	16. Isn’t this like, kangaroo court

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton’s mom is less than ready for the guests, and Virgil’s wishing he paid more attention to Twelve Angry Men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: implied alcoholism, court discussions, slight gaslighting.

“Mom?” Patton asked, peering into his house. “I have a friend!”

He spun around to face Dee and his soulmate. “I’ll be right back, stay here for a second?”

Logan looked confused, but didn’t say anything. Dee just nodded-and maybe Patton was just being paranoid, but he felt as though Dee knew too much, which was ridiculous-Patton didn’t have any secrets, or anything. 

He hung his coat up in the closet next to the door, then walked up the stairs, looking for his mom. Her car had been in the driveway, so he knew she was home, but he didn’t see her right away. Maybe she was asleep?

“Mom?” Patton walked through the kitchen, seeing a limp figure on the couch. He walked over to see his mom out cold, an empty glass next to her. Patton picked up the glass and sniffed, wincing at the sharp scent of alcohol. 

“Oh, Mom.” He whispered. “C’mon, lets get you to bed.”

Slowly, as to not wake her up, Patton scooped her body under his arms, frowning slightly at how she seemed lighter than last time this had happened. 

Once she had been tucked into bed, Patton walked back downstairs and let in Logan and Dee. “C’mon in, my mom’s sleeping, so if we could be quieter?”

“Sleeping?” Dee asked. “This late?”

“She...works nights.” Patton felt his heart twist at the lie, but the truth seemed worse, somehow.

Dee lowered his eyes in suspicion, but didn’t say anything, somewhat calming Patton’s rapid heartbeat.

They followed Patton upstairs, sitting on the couch. Logan curled up into Patton, tossing his glasses onto the coffee table. Dee sat next to them, keeping his space. 

He eyed the glass cup sitting on the table, still not quite believing the night shift story, but not wanting to outright say anything. Without a controlled test, it was hard to say what Patton’s tell was, and thus hard to say if he was lying or not. 

Biting his lip, Dee eyed the couple to see them fast asleep, leaning against each other. Totally _not_ jealous. Totally _not_ wanting to do the same with Rem.

He grabbed the glass after a moments hesitation, lifting it up to his nose, and took a quick whiff. Alcohol, just like he thought. 

Something told him Patton was lying about the night shift, too.

—————

Virgil hated this.

Hated it so much. 

He could be missing something _very_ important at school, and Remy was coming with him so he couldn’t even get notes for Virgil. 

Of course, having Remy here did help. A little. 

He still hated it.

“Your honor, I’d like to call Virgil Night to the stand.”

Virgil winced and stood up, his chair squeaking. He was painfully aware of his arms as he walked up, and once he got there, his eyes betrayed him as they snapped over to his parents. 

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth or so help you God?”

“I do.” His eyes tore away from _them_ and back to his own lawyer, who was smiling and nodding at him. 

“Mr. Night,” began the defendant, “Has my client ever hit you?”

“N-no.” Virgil clenched his fist, his nails digging into his skin. “Couple times. Not a lot.”

The jury started to murmur, and Virgil hoped that was a good answer. It was the truth, he was under oath, what other answer was there?

“So, Mr. Night, which one is it? Once, or not at all?”

“Well-more then once.” Virgil winced. It sounded weak, even to himself. “It wasn’t like I counted.”

The defendant nodded. “Did you ever document these occurrences?”

“No.” Virgil told him. His palm started tingling, and he looked down to see a message from Roman, which said _Good luck today! :)_ , which made him smile. 

“My clients have stated that they have never physically harmed you, and yet, you sit there and claim the contrary with no proof. In fact, this whole case rests on my clients harming Mr. Night, which may-“

“Objection, your honor, what does this have to do with examining Mr. Night?” His lawyer cut in. 

“Sustained. Any other questions for Mr. Night, Mr. Warren?”

“Yes, your honor. Mr. Night, you have three soulmates, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“And all three of them are male, correct?”

“Objection, what does this have to do with anything?” Mrs. Pierce cut in. 

“I have a point, your honor, I promise.” Mr. Warren argued.

“Denied. Get to it, please.”

The defendant took a deep breath and looked back up at Virgil.

“Mr. Night, is it true that you often sneak out to go visit one of your soulmates, Roman Prince?”

His lawyer shot her head up, giving Virgil the sense that this was important, and he should pay attention. 

“I wouldn’t say often, but-“

“Move to strike, your honor, I asked a yes or no question.”

“Accepted. Court reporter, strike that.” The judge told the stenographer.

“Yes or no, Mr. Night, do you or do you not sneak out to visit your soulmate, and by doing so put yourself in danger?”

Virgil frowned at the way the question had been phrased. If he said no, he’d by lying, but if he said yes, he’d be saying he’s acting dangerously.

He decided on the lesser of the two evils, and besides, lying was much worse then implying something, right? “Yes, I do.”

“Do you think, Mr. Night, that my clients-your parents-may have just been worried about you? Sneaking off to go do mischief with another-“

“OBJECTION,” Roared Mrs. Pierce, “This cannot be allowed!”

“Denied. There’s no rule against this, unless you know one?”

Virgil knew jack shit about court, but by the tensions in the room, he could tell it wasn’t going very well.

“No further questions, your honor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, all I pretty much know about court is from:  
> 2 days where we went over how the court system worked in English a year ago  
> My Cousin Vinny/Legally Blond  
> And a quick google search for some lingo
> 
> Needless to say, nothing in court may be accurate, feel free to correct me if I do something wrong!


	17. As you can see, I am not dead!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff happens, both in real life and fic. Thanks for sticking with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy has it been a while. But with everything going on right now, I revisited this world and have regrown my fondness for it. Not making any promises, but the wait for the next chapter will be no where _near_ as long.
> 
> Tw: abuse and courts

“I’d like to bring to the stand the police report from the afternoon of the crime,” Virgil’s lawyer announced. The report was brought up to the stand, where she started to read it out loud. “We walked in to find Christa in the downstairs living room, who tried to distract and physically restrain officers from going upstairs. 

“Once upstairs, we found Harvey standing over Virgil, holding a knife. Wounds on the boy suggest the use of said knife on him.

“At this time, I would also like to bring forward photos from the time of the report, which as you can see, clearly depicts knife wounds on my client, which, going back to the report, can be found to have been inflicted by Mr. Night.” She held up the photos, which had been printed out onto large squares. Virgil had a vague memory of the police taking that photo. 

The jury murmured to themselves, whispering things that Virgil couldn’t quite hear. As he sat next to his lawyer, his parents lawyer went up to the stand and started pitching his case. Virgil felt a small pool of dread growing in his stomach. Mrs. Pierce, his lawyer, must have noticed his face or something, because she reached over to grab his hand. She squeezed it once as the other lawyer wrapped up his final statement, and let go to finish up their argument. 

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, let’s...” Virgil knew he should probably be paying more attention, but most of what she was saying washed over him, and he blinked sleepily. He looked at the jury, making sure to not make eye contact, however, as he tried to swallow down the panic attack that had been growing ever since this started. He couldn’t do that, not here. 

Mrs. Pierce was walking back over to him, now. He sat up straight (or as much as he could, he thought, seeing as he was gay), and tried to look as though he was paying rapt attention. The judge was talking about a decision, and then the jury was walking out to a side room where Virgil could only imagine their whispers. Finally, _finally_ , after what felt like an eternity of waiting in the hard wooden chair, they came back out, handing a slip of paper to the judge.

The judge called the court to order. “I will now read the ruling. Harvey and Christa Night, by the power of my ruling, you have been found guilty in charges of second degree assault to a minor. You will face twelve years in prison.” He banged the gavel down, and Virgil let out a breath he didn’t notice he was holding.

“We won,” Mrs. Pierce said, turning to him. “It’s over. We won.”

Virgil hadn’t noticed the tears pouring down his face until right then.

——————————————————  
“Logan, you ready?” His sister asked, sitting in the drivers seat.

He huffed and turned to the window, staring at the house he had lived in for quite some time.

“Okay. You’re mad. I get that. But think of it like-“

“No.” He interrupted. “I can’t think of it like one of your games anymore, Olive. Just...let me be pissed about it. Let me be pissed about it for one damn second without swooping in with a metaphor or some crap. I-I have to be mad about this for a while.”

“Okay,” She said, and the car was silent as they pulled away from what little normality he had found there.

A buzz from his phone made him look down to see a message from Patton. Smiling, he unlocked it. **Dear Heart: Hey lolo! Just wondering how you were doing! Miss you already :(**

 **Lovely Logan!: Doing fine, I suppose. Miss you as well.** There were no more messages after that, so Logan assumed that it had not gone through and put the phone up, as trying to send another without wifi would be futile.

“Want to listen to some music?” Logan asked, as a way to signal he was done being mad. 

“Sure,” Olive agreed, as a way to show she understood. Rap slid on, and Logan let the fast-paced words slide over him, getting lost in the rhythm and rhymes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone in my fantabulous discord server for helping me work up the motivation to work on this, and to everyone who leaves a comment. Y’all make my day every time.


	18. Hyperfixation go brrrr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil deals with the aftermath of court and someone new arrives in Pierview.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who comments, and the people in discord for screaming at me to post this.

Roman has known Virgil’s home life wasn’t...good. Of course, he didn’t know the full extent, had no way to know the full extent as Virgil had never told him-and he had never been to Virgil’s house except for _that_ time, so he couldn’t really count on that to tell him anything either. 

And then Virgil left school, and he didn’t come back for several days. And he came back with a black turtleneck and practically claimed his undying love for Roman, which, not that he was complaining, but was a little odd for him. Later that day, he had promised to tell him the whole story, and now seemed to be a good time.

Seeing how Virgil was missing school for _court_. 

He’s not mad. There’s no reason to be mad, really, because Virgil can’t drive and he’s too smart to get drunk at a party, and so the only other reason he would be there is for something that could be called horrific. If you add that to his stranger behavior over the past week or so leading up to the summons, well, it didn’t quite paint the prettiest picture. Yes, he had asked Virgil about why he was going, but Virgil had said he would explain later, and although Roman didn’t want to push, he was getting tired of waiting for later.

He’d have to wait a little longer, however, because just as he sat down to eat, Remy walked through the cafeteria doors, dragging Virgil along behind him. Roman stood up and waved at them, Virgil noticing and walking over to their table.

“Um, hey.” Virgil said, his voice sounding hoarse. 

“Hey.” Roman nodded back. “Saved you a seat.”

“Thanks,” Virgil stared at him. 

“Are...you okay?” Thomas asked, looking worried. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Not actually...that hungry. Thanks for the thought though.” Virgil stood up, grabbing his book bag. “Um actually, Roman, could I talk to you? For a second? Alone?”

Roman felt his heart leap to his throat. “Y-yeah, of course.”

“Run along, Virgil will catch up to you in a second.” Remy told him, and that was another red flag, because Remy rarely went a sentence without calling someone some sort of nickname. Emile must have noticed this too, because he glanced at Roman and then Virgil, and Joan seemed to be the only one who didn’t pick up on some sort of bad vibe from the pair, and that was mainly because they weren’t at school today.

“Okay, well, I’ll be in the theater room.” Roman said, and grabbed his bag as well, heading off just there.  
——————  
Virgil watched Roman walk away. Remy tapped his shoulder, and Virgil turned around. “I am fine, you know.”

Remy stared at him, his lips pouting a touch. “It’s okay to not be, well, okay. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. I do. But, you know, it’s also fine to let me, I don’t know, feel _fine_ for two seconds before I kick into like, I don’t know, depression? I’m...” He looked away from Remy, his gaze shifting to the floor. “Maybe I’m not fine. I’ll get over it eventually, though, and I’m not gonna burden y’all until I am.” He looked back at Remy, and he may have let a small glare cross his features. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a soulmate to go talk to.”

“You’re not...” Remy sighed, as Virgil had already walked away. Still, he finished his sentence. “You’re not a burden.”  
———  
“Roman?” Virgil asked, poking his head into the theater doorway. 

“But...Martin,” A male voice rang out, sounding heartbroken. “It’s been so long since you’ve held my hand, and it’s starting to get so cold.” 

Virgil walked in the rest of the way to see Roman, holding a piece of paper and talking to the room. “Oh, won’t you take of my heart that has been laid bare before you, so that you may please my beating heart before it may come to rest?”

“Roman?” Virgil said, making Roman gasp in shock. 

“Oh, Virgil, hi, I was just practicing some lines.” Roman said, putting his paper (which Virgil could now see was a script) down on the table next to him. 

“We...need to talk.”  
————————  
“Hey Dee!” Patton said, sliding down next to him at lunch. “What’s...what’s up?”

“Uh, nothing much.” He responded, capping the marker and and turning to him. “Need something?”

“..Not really.” Patton flinched back from Dee. He had been hoping that, well, Valerie was sick today, and Missy ‘n Tayln had a different lunch, so he was alone today. Which normally would be fine, he was fine with that, and it had to be expected once and a while. But today, he had seen Dee sitting all alone, and so he had wanted to see if _Dee_ needed to sit with someone. Yeah.

“Well, I’d _hate_ to be rude, but I was just talking with Re. So. If you don’t mind.” He pulled out the marker again and started scribbling on his skin, a green scrawl responding. 

Patton sighed, giving up hope for a conversation. He pulled out the pb&j that he had packed for himself and sighed again. He would...read or something.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think or if there are any errors in the fic!


End file.
